More than two years in the making, Jashn-e-azadi [How We Celebrate Freedom], is a feature length documentary by film-maker Sanjay Kak which explores the implications of the struggle for Azadi, for freedom, in the Kashmir valley.
Click here to watch the Trailer
As India celebrates the 60th anniversary of it's Independence, this provocative and quietly disturbing new film raises questions about freedom in Kashmir, and about the degrees of freedom in India.
And here is a short Interview with the film-maker.
This
Jashn-e-Azadi blog is an open forum for conversations about the film, about Kashmir, and about Azadi itself.
For more information about screenings, sales and broadcast write to
jashneazadifilmATgmail.com
Festival screenings
Thiruvananthapuram
May 26, 2008 / International Video Festival of Kerala
Munich
Apr 28, 2008 / Dok.Fest
Amsterdam
Feb 10, 2008 / Himalaya Film Festival
Amsterdam
Nov 28, 2007 / International Documentary Festival
Kathmandu
Oct 12, 2007 / Film South Asia
Delhi
July 22, 2007 / Osian’s Cinefan film festival
Previous Previews
London
7 Dec 2007 / School of Oriental & African Studies & Sacred Media Cow
Leeds
6 Dec 2007 / Workshop Theatre, School of English, University of Leeds
Egham, Surrey
3 Dec 2007 / Royal Holloway, University of London
New Delhi
26 Nov 2007 / Russian Centre of Science & Culture & Magic Lantern Foundation
New Jersey
Oct 5, 2007 / College of New Jersey
New York City
Oct 4, 2007 / Columbia School of Journalism
Austin
Oct 2, 2007 / University of Texas
Philadelphia
Sep 28, 2007 / Temple University
Philadelphia
Sep 27, 2007 / University of Pennsylvania
New York State
Sep 26, 2007 / Vassar College
New York City
Sep 25, 2007 / New School for Social Research
Boston
Sep 23, 2007 @ MIT
Toronto
Sep 22, 2007 / SALDA
Toronto
Sep 21, 2007 / University of Toronto
New Haven
Sep 20, 2007 / Yale University
Minneapolis
Sep 18, 2007 / University of Minnesota
Hyderabad
Aug 10, 2007 / Pure Docs, Prasad Preview, Banjara Hills
interrupted previews!! [[ MUMBAI ...
July 27, 2007 (Fri)
Vikalp: Films for Freedom @ Bhupesh Gupta Bhawan, 85 Sayani Road, Prabhadevi
July 30, 2007 (Mon)
Vikalp: Films for Freedom @ Prithvi House, Juhu...]]
Bangalore
July 14, 2007 / Institute of Agrl. Technologies, Queens Road
Bangalore
July 13, 2007 / Centre for Film & Drama, Millers Road
Nashik
June 13, 2007, Pandit Vishnu Digambar Paluskar Hall
Pune
June 12, 2007, National Film Archive of India Auditorium
Guwahati
May 29, 2007, Blue Moon Hotel
Shillong
May 26, 2007, Assam Club, Laban
Patna
May 12, 2007, Hindi Bhavan Hall
Srinagar
March 31, 2007, Tagore Hall
New Delhi
March 23, 2007, Sarai-CSDS
New Delhi
March 13, 2007, India Habitat Center
Dear Mr. Kak, I am a student at Cornell and had the pleasure of viewing your movie this evening. The movie was very informative and thought provoking. I wanted to ask a few questions after the movie, but couldn’t do so due to the interruptions. Please see below, two of my questions:
1) The notion of Azaadi was prevalent throughout the movie. My questions relates to what would happen if Kashmir were to be given Azaadi? It would be a state surrounded by Pakistan, China and India. With such dominant neighbors would Kashmir ever be able to survive as an independent state for too long? Even if one were to assume that it would; would it not be completely dependent on its neighbors – economically and politically, thereby defying the entire notion of “Azaadi.”
2) One often talks of the troubles in Kashmir from the late 80’s onwards. I haven’t found much information on what the situation was between 1947 – 1987 (besides a brief war between India/Pak in 1948). One never hears of any resistance in that period. What then triggered such a violent backlash/resistance starting the late 80’s? If it was support from across the border then why did it come at that time and not ever before?
Thank you once again. I appreciate your time and look forward to hearing from you.
Thanks for the queries, Ravjit, and I wish the skype link at Cornell had held out a bit longer…
Let’s stand your first question on it’s head – instead of seeing Kashmir, a possible Azad Kashmir of the future, as a fragile, landlocked state, beleaguered by Pakistan, China, and India, why can we not see it instead as a buffer state, a zone of comfort where these nuclear powers meet in friendship and peace? If that is too idealistic, What explains the survival of Bhutan? Or even land-locked Nepal? And in a globalised world who is not economically dependent on other nations for their survival? The role played in Europe by the autonomous province of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, a bridge between north Italy and Austria and Germany, is a worthy example to stare at.
Your second question: the reason we think that the ‘troubles’ in Kashmir only began in the late 1980s is that our media (and our scholarship) have been so completely tied in with the position of the Indian State. Kashmiris have been protesting from as early as 1952, when Sheikh Abdullah was first arrested, and even underground groups (like the al-Fatah) first came into being in the late 1960s, and of course the armed JKLF was set up in 1977 … This is a long history of protest of every kind. Of course Pakistan’s support was heightened once India had inflicted the humiliation of the Liberation of Bangladesh upon the Pakistani military and intelligence establishment in 1971. And by 1989, the US supported Mujahideen (created with the full collusion of the Pakistani military) had triumphed over the Soviet Union, and were looking to extend their sphere of influence.
The answers are endless, but I hope this provides a start, Ravjit